The Gospel According To The Brackets
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Once upon a time, there was a land that lived and breathed a game called “Basketball.” To take a ball from one end of the court to the other and throw it through a hoop with a net, was to know true bliss. Soon people were coming from near and far to play the game, even more came to watch. Then it happened: someone came up with the idea of having a tournament!
“Let’s get the best teams together and have them compete against each other.”
“We could invite only the good teams to play,” someone added. “We could watch the teams squirm as we make our selection. We could watch teams jump up and down when they’re picked. We could also watch the sad faces when they’re not.”
“We could create a series of brackets” another added. “We could put the names of each team on a line. The teams next to each other would play, and if they win, they go forward. If they lose, they go home.”
When the people thought of their team getting invited, being put on a line, and moving forward, they were very excited. (Deep down, as they thought about their team NOT being invited, or, if invited, losing and having to go home, they weren’t so sure it was such a good idea.)
The conversation suddenly changed in tone. Soon there was talk of about winning and losing, keeping score, and “my team” and “your team.” The talk got louder as the tournament began. In the end, one team was left standing. All the other teams were gone. For awhile it felt wonderful to be the best, but the echo in the stadium made them miss the other teams.
* * * * * *
After many years of the tournament, someone came along who loved basketball more than almost anything in the world. He wanted everyone in the world to love it as much as he. He was always eager to discuss anything about basketball with anyone and knew more about the game than . . god himself! His love was contagious, and he wanted to give everyone the chance to play the game. Someone explained the tournament to the man, and, at first, he was excited.
“We have a tournament of basketball”
“Great!”
“And we invite teams to come to play”
“OK”
“But we only ask the best teams to play in the tournament.”
“You do?”
“Yes, then we divide them up let them play. The winner stays and loser goes home.”
“But that means there are less and less players.”
“Exactly, and in the end there is only one team standing.”
“But doesn’t that end the tournament?”
“Yes, that’s how it ends. One team wins. All the others lose.”
After a long pause, the man looked up with a sad look on his face. “I don’t like it.” Then he came up with another idea: “What if we had a tournament where everyone is invited?”
“Everyone?” they asked
“Yes, everyone. And we make it so every team that wants to play plays and every person who wants to play plays.”
“Everyone?!” they replied. “What’s special about a tournament where everyone gets in? What about the brackets?”
“No brackets!”
“No brackets?”
“No brackets. Just playing. After one match the two teams go and play two other teams. Everyone stays. No one goes home. It’d be perfect.”
“Perfect? . . . You mean perfectly awful.”
“Why would it be awful?” the man asked
“Because the point is to know which team is the best.”
“I thought the point was to play basketball.”
Everyone laughed at the silly stranger. That is, until people began to listen to him. It was only a small group at first, the losers who felt left out by the tournament, but soon the size of the crowd increased. People began gathering around the man, listening to what he said, and then they’d have pick up games of basketball.
It was the strangest thing, everyone played and no one watched.
“What good is a game if there are no spectators?” one person asked. “What’s the point if no one wins?”
“We don’t even keep score!” someone explained.
They all laughed at the man and his followers, and their laughs got louder when the teams included girls and others who'd never picked up a basketball before. Soon there were more people playing in the pick up games than in the tournament. When people stopped buying tickets, that’s when they began to get angry.
“This needs to stop!” . . . “He needs to go away.”
So one night they planned to arrest the man and put him on trial. The charge?. . . Opening the game to everyone . . . Changing the way we do things . . . Letting everyone win.
“Is any of that a crime,” one of his followers asked.
“You bet!” was the response. And the man was found guilty and put to death. As the last of the accusers walked away from the dead man’s body, he whispered to his friend: “Let the game continue.”